On Apple’s Blowout Earnings

January 24th, 2012

Listening the Q1 earnings announcement; thoughts:

There was definitely some prior indication that this would be a surprising, blow-out quarter, first a chart showing a huge jump in iOS marketshare from late 2011 sales, putting iOS on an even level with Android. Second, personal anecdotal evidence seemed to confirm this — I see iPads all over the place; folks holding them like giant books and laptop replacements  to the point of impracticality and slight ridiculousness — saw someone walking down the Embarcadero holding an iPad like a giant iPod, headphones plugged in and likely consulting a map. Lastly, the cheaper iPhone 4 and free iPhone 3GS shouldn’t be underestimated, as several acquaintances have picked those up.

But still, I wasn’t expecting this much of an upside surprise.

Now in retrospect we can see that Apple’s decision to delay the iPhone 4S until Fall resulted in some quarters where Android gained traction, but there were also a lot of consumers who waited to the latest Apple kit, so the delay didn’t impact things all that much and they made up the difference and then some this past quarter. And momentum could continue if the iPhone 5 drops this summer.

Second, iPad is pretty clearly owning the tablet space. The Kindle Fire may have had some impact but considering the entire Android tablet space = Kindle Fire, it’s not nearly as damaging as many of the Android fans had hoped for last year. And an updated iPad 3 is due to arrive sooner than a new iPhone.

Anyhow, this Apple shareholder couldn’t have asked for anything better from this announcement. The only can think of is a stock split or a dividend. But for now I’ll totally take an 8% pop…